Science Education | Amanda Womac

Digitizing Lichens & Bryophytes

Across the planet’s terrestrial surface lives a layer of organisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Lichens and bryophytes are hosts to these cryptobiotic ...Read More

Forest Gliders

Nestled in hollow tree crevices at the highest elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the park’s more elusive mammals—the Carolina flying ...Read More

Here Be Dragons

When people visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park, they are usually expecting to see charismatic flora and fauna such as pink lady slippers or black bears. Insects rarely ...Read More

Diversity of Disciplines

Mike McKinney is always up for a challenge. When the environmental studies program he developed became part of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in 2011, he was ...Read More

The New American Gothic

American Gothic captures a moment in agriculture—a snippet, a portrait of an entire profession as old as time. What it doesn’t depict are the years of innovation that led ...Read More

A wing, a prayer and some tender, loving care

Morgan Kessler appears around the corner of the cabin with the red tail hawk in her gloved hands. Holding it close, she walks slowly but deliberately to the spot where she ...Read More

Getting to know the red tail hawk

If you’ve ever seen a movie in which a hawk or an eagle appears, or the camera pans a mountain and valley landscape, then you’ve probably heard the thrilling, raspy ...Read More

Of all dangers, man is raptors’ biggest threat

Raptors are often thought of as strong, fierce birds of prey, but the reality is they face more threats than most people realize. Many birds of prey species are highly ...Read More

Short history of studying Pluto

In 1930, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the first dwarf planet we now refer to as Pluto. For decades, our solar system contained nine planets. Teachers taught ...Read More

Women in STEM is no recent phenomenon

One of the challenges facing women in STEM disciplines is the lack of role models girls have when it comes to female mentors in science, engineering, technology and math. ...Read More